Labrum Tear on Your MRI? It May Not Be Related to Your Hip Pain

Orthopedic surgeons have created yet another mass hysteria in patients over this issue of hip labrum tears. I have spoken with hundreds of patients over the last 5–10 years who are absolutely terrified about a small tear on an MRI image observed by a radiologist after they developed hip pain. While surgery is often recommended, what if that tear had nothing to do with why the hip hurts and was merely an innocent bystander?

Hip Labrum Tears Seen on MRI May Not Be the Cause of Hip Pain

The new study was a meta-analysis, meaning pooling together the data from separate but similar studies (29 in this case). Researchers were specifically investigating the relationship between what is seen on hip MRIs and hip pain. One of those conditions was hip labrum tears, and the results weren't a surprise to me but will be for many patients. For those with hip pain, there was limited radiological evidence that 62% had labral tears. While this seems high, for those without hip pain, there was stronger radiological evidence that 54% had labral tears. The difference between these groups wasn't significant. What does this mean? It means labral tears can exist whether there is hip pain or not. It means in patients who do have hip pain, we can't assume that labral tears seen on MRI are the cause of the pain. Yet, unfortunately, many times that is exactly what happens.

If My Labrum Tear Isn't Causing My Hip Pain, What Is?

Believe it or not, many conditions that have nothing to do with the hip can cause hip pain. These include problems with the sacroiliac (SI) joint, or hip girdle muscles, ligaments, or tendons or even pinched nerves in the low back as the nerves that branch from the lumbosacral spine supply the hips and lower limbs. Let's explore a few potential causes of hip pain a bit more.

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